Families were at an Oak Bay Avenue coffee shop on Sunday painting butterflies, birds and other designs on the cedar-plank fencing that separates the cafe’s patio area from the road.
It was a celebration of Oak Bay council’s decision to allow Hide + Seek Coffee to keep the four-year-old patio — dismissed by one critic as a “horse corral” — after a renewal application was denied earlier this year.
At the time, municipal staff cited the fact that the six-metre long patio intruded onto a nearby store’s street frontage even though Neil Rogers, owner of the Timeless Toys store next door at 2213 Oak Bay Ave., had provided a letter of support for the patio.
Hide + Seek Coffee co-owner Jaime Owens was at municipal hall last week to plead her case and to request a waiver of the $1,500 in fees that she had to pay to bring the matter before council.
She told council it felt unethical for Oak Bay to change what was allowed on the street and to charge for the appeals process when planning staff had chosen the patio location when it was first built in 2020.
“We were directed by Oak Bay staff to put it there. So to have a bylaw written post that happening that makes us pay an extra $1,500 seems, like, targeted,” she said, adding additional costs for the process — including a $500 application fee for a previously approved patio — didn’t make sense.
“It screams bureaucracy and barriers that don’t support small business,” said Owens, who also has a Hide + Seek Coffee location on Fairfield Road.
“I am not someone that owns four pubs. I own two tiny cafes, I have eight staff — my payroll is everything that comes in and out.”
Council eventually approved the application, after a debate about its aesthetics, but declined to waive the fees.
Coun. Lesley Watson, who called herself “pro-patio” — and lauded the fact that council received 74 pages of correspondence in support of the cafe — voted against the patio, saying it isn’t consistent with the “look and feel” of nearby buildings, such as the historic Bell Block.
“We are trying to create a vibrant community that attracts people, and I’m not sure that the patio as it is configured right now does that,” said Watson, who called the patio “rather the poor cousin on the block.”
Coun. Carrie Smart said while the “eclectic” design of the patio may be a different aesthetic from the rest of Oak Bay Village, she appreciated the diversity. “It’s a contemporary simple form. It’s beloved by so many members of the community,” she said. “I wish we were a municipality that was supporting parklet and sidewalk patios rather than lumping continuous fees and making things unfeasible.”
Coun. Cairine Green, one of four councillors who voted in favour of the patio, countered that Oak Bay has “a great reputation” with small businesses.
“I don’t want the impression left tonight that we don’t support small businesses,” said Green.
Coun. Esther Paterson joined Watson in voting against the patio.
Co-owner Jesse Owens said in an interview that it was frustrating to see councillors debate the patio’s aesthetics, since many of the original design considerations were decided in conjunction with Oak Bay planners.
“We didn’t come here to just be attacked for the aesthetic quality. If their issue was an aesthetic thing, that $2,000 [in fees] could have very easily been used to make it really, really pretty.”
The patio was painted a lilac colour on Wednesday, and will see further upgrades, such as a wheelchair ramp and reflectors for safety and accessibility, said a city staff report, which noted the owners will have to pay a $781 annual fee to have the patio, based on square footage.
But it’ll still have a touch of whimsy.
As part of Sunday’s revamp, miniature toy horses now stand watch on corners of the patio fence.
Jaime Owens said the toy horses, donated by her daughter, are a tongue-in-cheek reference to the online commentator who repeatedly called the patio a horse corral as the debate unfolded.
“If it’s a horse corral, it’s going to be a horse corral.”
Greg Clarke, a coffee-shop regular who was at the cafe on Sunday with his wife and two children, said he had come to celebrate the patio’s re-approval by Oak Bay council.
“We live not too far — this is an every-day visit,” he said. “It’s some of the better coffee in town, too.”
Jaime Owens said she was happy they were able to save the patio, though they would have preferred avoiding the $2,000 in municipal fees and having to go through a council vote.
As for the fence-painting, she said she is glad they were able to turn a source of frustration into a fun event for the community. “We really have such great customers and community support.”
